400 people in a row ‘pay it forward’ by paying for the person behind them in Starbucks, until someone ruins it all

Starbucks agreed a deal to increase its tax bill in Britain (Picture: PA)

A pay-it-forward chain of people buying each other’s drinks at Starbucks was on its way to breaking the record – but then one person ruined it.

A random act of kindness where someone at a Starbucks in St Petersburg, Florida, offered to pay for the person behind her started a completely unplanned and spontaneous ‘pay it forward’ chain where nearly 400 people all voluntarily offered to pay for the drinks and food for the next customer.

People using the drive-through section continued to pay for the person behind them for 11 hours, until one customer decided capitalism should always prevail and refused to pay for someone else.

Barista Vu Nguyen, 29, told the Tampa Bay Times that when customer number 379 was told about the pay it forward chain she was in, she replied that she just wanted to pay for her own coffee, not someone else’s.

Nguyen claimed the woman appeared not to understand what paying it forward meant.

Despite failing to break the record set by another Starbucks where 900 people took part in a spontaneous pay it forward chain last year, St Petersburg residents were happy to take the second place spot.

Tim Burnside, 19, who took part in the chain twice (he must have been thirsty) said: ‘It’s nice just to do a random act of kindness for someone you don’t know.’